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Sanchez refs rage
Evening Standard 27 Sep 2007
Lawrie Sanchez could be in hot water with the Football Association today after another rant at referees as Fulham were dumped out of the Carling Cup.
Sanchez's latest outburst came after a Diomansy Kamara strike against Bolton was ruled offside despite replays showing he was clearly not. The score was 1-1 in extra-time at the time in a match that Fulham eventually lost 2-1.
Sanchez raged: "These referees are just not up to it, and something has to be done. They are
costing us week-in, week-out with their decisions.
"I don't know if they see this as a nice day down by the seaside or what but I think it is ridiculous what they are doing. We have seen the goal and he is onside by a yard at least."
Kamara nudged the ball over the line after 97 minutes from a pass across goal by David Healy only for Steve Bennett to rule out the strike on the advice of his assistant.
Fulham also had a goal wrongly disallowed against Middlesbrough last month, as it was claimed the ball did not cross the line.
Sanchez's comments are sure to land him an FA charge and to rub salt into the wound, Bolton's Stelios Giannakopoulos appeared to push Paul Konchesky off the ball before hitting a 112th-minute winner.
Last night, Danny Guthrie struck for Bolton just before the hour and Healy came off the bench to level on 78 minutes.
It is not the first time that Sanchez has clashed with officials. After Healy's goal was disallowed in last month's defeat to Middlesbrough, he claimed referees could become almost obsolete if they don't sharpen up their act.
The former Northern Ireland manager said at the time: "If they don't get these decisions right then someone will decide they are only allowed to do the minor decisions with the important ones being done by someone with a video monitor.
"I'm not an advocate of technology. I'd like referees to be the arbitrators of what is wrong and right. These officials have no excuse and will probably be marked down for it. I told the referee a major error had been made and that he would be pilloried for it."
